


your portrait in plasma

by Pandasushiroll



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Lust at First Sight, M/M, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter is a Little Shit, Scandal, Sexual Tension, Soulmates, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:07:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28097421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandasushiroll/pseuds/Pandasushiroll
Summary: Peter thinks he has his life as a vampire figured out. He has his idol, Bruce Banner (and his vampire boyfriend Tony Stark), guiding him and he's got a sweet vampire girlfriend. Then, of course, he goes to a party and meets Felicia. A human with an incredible scent. His entire world gets flipped upside down as he struggles with his intense attraction to her.Scandal abounds!
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Bruce Banner/Tony Stark, Cindy Moon/Peter Parker, Cindy and Peter don't stay together, Felicia Hardy & Peter Parker, Felicia Hardy/Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, oops - Relationship, past - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	your portrait in plasma

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiii lovelies. So this is a first for me. I don't usually write vampire stories and I don't normally have this many complicated things flying around. No sexual cheating takes place, I just tagged it for a bit toward the end of the chapter that could count...I guess. IDK VAMPIRES ARE COMPLICATED. But please mind the tags.
> 
> God, I'm going to hell for this.

"What's it like?" 

Ned always asked a lot of questions. Peter has become used to it over the years and he could tell from the overly casual tone, that this question has been simmering on low in his mind for a few months.

Peter knew what Ned really wanted to ask, but he opted to pretend he didn’t as he continued doodling on his napkin. They were in the kitchen picking through take out menus so Ned can have something to eat that isn’t three day old leftovers. 

"What's, what like?"

Ned's brow furrowed and his whole face bunched up like he'd eaten sour candy or something rancid. He leaned forward conspiratorially as if he didn't want May to overhear. May by the way, was at work. Another 12 hour shift. 

"You  _ know. _ "

She left food for him in the second fridge. They'd gotten a used one at a decent price from a pawn shop when they first got the news. Turns out the anemia was vampirism. Go figure. It wasn't totally unheard of. Sometimes people got turned and couldn't remember the experience. Sometimes he wished he could remember it, but most days he's thankful for  _ not  _ remembering. Maybe one day he'd look into it but for now, all he could think about was how his day to day had changed. 

Vampires weren't an uncommon occurrence in the world. There were a few famous ones. Some were even heroic, like Bruce Banner (his idol). Superheroes didn't exist, but if they did Peter imagined they'd be pretty close to the Avengers which was an amalgamation of the strangest people on the planet. Probably. 

Cheeky, Peter said, "Not sure what you mean, Ned." 

His best friend gave him an exasperated sigh. "Blood. What's it like?"

Peter's tongue rolled around in his mouth, pressing against his right cheek for a few moments. His fangs weren’t out, but he knew they tucked behind his gums. Somewhere. They felt like regular canines at the moment. "Depends." 

"On?" Ned prompted. 

He shifted because--well it's kinda weird. He still wasn’t entirely comfortable thinking about blood as  _ food. _ "Type, temperature, um where it was drawn from."

Ned's eyebrows shot up faster than one of those Test Your Strength games on the pier. "Really? Where it was drawn from matters?"

Peter nodded. 

"Why?"

A slow exhale. "The further from the heart the more the taste changes." 

"Oh." To Ned's credit, he only looked  _ a little  _ unnerved. "So like...what type is your--"

The glower Peter threw in his friend’s direction halted the question. "I'm not gonna bite you, Ned."

"I  _ know.  _ I was just curious!" He said with faux innocence. Peter could see right through it. 

"No, you were hedging around what you really wanna ask which is: what kind of blood makes me more likely to freak out and bite. I don't  _ know.  _ Okay? But not yours." 

A beat. 

Another.

God his hearing was way too sensitive. He could very clearly make out Ned's pulse. A rapid little drum beat. Distinct. Like music coming out of a speaker in an elevator. 

Ned's surprise morphed into mild offense. "And what's wrong with my blood?"

Peter couldn't help himself. He snorted. "I dunno man it's--not that it's  _ wrong.  _ It's kinda like...I don't  _ need it.  _ Could take it or leave it but it's uh honestly not my first choice." His nose wrinkled and Ned let out another offended sound. 

"Sorry?" Peter tried, with an unapologetic lift of his shoulders. 

"What about MJ?" 

Peter wilted.

Yeah. That had been disappointing. "Uh I don't um...she's kinda like you but more," he gestured toward the fridge vaguely. Damn. She wasn’t food. He forced himself to gesture in another direction. "It's not my type."

Which sucked. Big time. Because he liked her. And he'd like to say  _ fuck biology I like who I like  _ but--it was a lot easier said than done when he looked at her and all he could think of was an overstuffed dumpster because he doesn't like the smell of her blood. He'd literally almost vomited when she let him smell her wrist. It super sucked.

He’d apologized for days. Weeks. He hated hurting people. Especially people he cared about. 

They resorted to texting to scavenge the remains of their...whatever they had before he was turned. He couldn’t stand her scent for awhile and it was really the only way they could keep talking. A few months passed and he thought that by now, maybe, they're back to tentative friendship status. She sent him memes and he returned the favor every chance he got. He got a variety of gifs in response. 

Ned looked bummed out by this news. "So...do you still like her?" 

Yes. And no. "It's...complicated." 

The comment stewed between them for a few moments before the conversation picked up with a new topic. "So. Do you have any cool powers?" 

Peter huffed out a laugh, shifting his legs, the sound of the denim moving against the wood of the chair filled the space between them. "So far it's just the standard vampire skill set. Super senses, strength, and speed."

Giddy, Ned bounced in his seat. "How fast are you?" 

Peter's lips pursed. To him it felt as if he wasn’t moving any faster than normal when he stood to do a lap around the house, but the fact that Ned's jaw was hanging open when he took a seat again told another story. 

"THAT'S AMAZING!" 

He shouted and it made Peter wince, but he chuckled at his friend's enthusiasm. At least things with Ned remained the same. 

* * *

For the most part, things return to normal. You're given a period to recover after you're turned so he doesn't have to be homeschooled  _ forever  _ just until he can manage being in the room with more than one person. He opted to take the semester to really train himself. Which was perfect because he ended up getting very far ahead of the curve. 

He started hanging out with Ned again, but his schedule changed. They have to hang out at night more often.

When the sunlight touched his skin, Peter didn’t immediately burn to a crisp, but it does sting like a bitch and he fried like an egg if he was exposed for too long without sufficient sunscreen and long sleeves. He carried an umbrella with him any time he had to travel during the day time. 

Being active during the day took a severe toll on him though. So eventually he transitioned into a full night owl. He felt more comfortable at night and it wasn’t that bad. The only bummer was that it was hard to connect with his friends from school. He took night classes while they took day classes. Ned promised him that next semester he would coordinate to get a few more night classes on his schedule. 

He started using his free time to help people, and it wasn’t perfect but he helped around the neighborhood and it felt good to make a difference. 

May worked as a nurse so it was easy to get into the program that delivered blood bags to the house. She “knew a guy” and that helped the process along. Which was nice. He had his own little fridge. He can drink at home and not have to think twice about it. O positive might be his favorite. It had a little extra  _ zing  _ to it that he liked. He didn't trust himself to try drinking from a human. 

Not until a year later, when he went to a college party and one of the partiers  _ insisted. _ It was...divine. He understood it now. Why people have gone to jail for this. It was absolutely fucking miles better than drinking from a cold bloog bag with a straw. 

He tried to get a little more creative with his food after that party. Heating it up a bit. Boiling it. 

Which lead to a very terse conversation with his aunt in which he had to ask things like; "May uhh how do you clean a pot after you boil blood in it?" 

Listen, he didn't think about the  _ staining.  _ Marinara stained. Grease stained. He didn't know why he thought blood would be any different. He got a partime job to buy May a new pot and a few new pans because she could taste the copper in her food and it made her want to puke.

And that's how life was for a while. 

Nice. Serene. He developed a routine. 

He met a girl in his last year of college, her name was Cindy and she was like him. A vampire. At first, it was a relief because they're so similar. He didn't have to worry about drinking her blood. He didn't have to worry about hurting her. She taught him about control and portions because she's been turned a few years longer than he has. She took his virginity and _that_ was certainly something. He didn't have to hold back with her and he loved that. Maybe.

But Peter wasn't really sure what love was supposed to feel like. When he asked May about it she told him that it's like the difference between art and porn. He'll know it when he sees it.

* * *

" _ Come on.  _ You don't wanna meet him?"

They've been dating for months--honestly he's lost track of how many. He liked spending time with her though. She's cute and the sex is good but--

But he still didn't know if he loved her. And the guilt of it plagued him through most of the time they spent together. MJ didn't really seem to like her. (MJ didn't really like anyone aside from him and Ned though.) Cindy wanted him to meet her father. Er. Well. Her adoptive father and Peter kept digging his heels in because what if her father could  _ tell? _

What if he could see Peter's uncertainty? 

"It's not that I don't want to meet him it's just--"

"Look. You're my boyfriend. He's been asking about you for awhile and it's kinda weird that we've been dating this long and you don't wanna meet my family."

Peter ground his teeth together. "It's not that I don't--wait. Your boyfriend?"

" _ Yes! _ " She sounded exasperated. "What else would you be?"

She made a (relatively) good point. He'd never officially asked her to be his girlfriend so he hadn't really thought to call her that. Sure, on the rare occasion someone flirted or offered him their number he'd say, "I'm seeing someone." But. Being called her boyfriend meant that they were in a full fledged relationship. And when had  _ that  _ happened?

"I just uh didn't realize." He said dumbly. It occurred to him that he probably should have not said that out loud. It occurred to him, of course, at the moment hurt splashed across her face.

"What do you think we've been doing this whole time?" 

"Seeing each other." His mouth felt dry. She looked so hurt and disappointed and he wanted to kiss her and hug her to make the expression go away. It felt childish. He couldn’t just hug the hurt away. He couldn’t take back what he’d said either. God he was stuck in hell. A loop of hell. A loop of the shit he should not have said out loud. "Sorry I--no it's great. I'm happy!"

Her eyes narrowed. Yeah, he really didn’t buy his own voice either right then. He sounded strained, like a frog getting stepped on. 

"I am." He insisted. "Happy. Let's celebrate. I wanna meet him. Dinner? This weekend?"

She nodded, but he could tell that the damage was done. Cindy stewed over things. Analyzing them and letting them boil. If Peter didn't catch on quick enough it could lead to a series of passive aggressive moves. Like not answering his calls. Or replying to every message (regardless of length) with the letter “k”. Oh how he hated that letter. It was the most passive aggressive letter in the history of text messages. 

Cindy was _technically_ the same age as him mentally but she's frozen at a younger age physically and that can be...hard. Peter understood it. He was stuck at young adulthood too. So he _really_ understood it. Your mind can logically understand how you should be reacting but your body almost won't let you. So he didn't take it too personally when she got childish with him. 

Still. 

He spent the rest of the day trying to be extra funny and poke her about topics he knew she liked because she was pretty sullen about what he'd said.

The weekend came way faster than he expected and it wasn’t anything like she’d said it would be. A a simple small dinner. A simple dinner his ass. It was a full blown party. With guests, and  _ caterers.  _

A work party apparently but a party nonetheless. He wore a button down shirt because that's really as fancy as Peter gets without forewarning. If he had known he was supposed to be attending a  _ ball _ he would have at least tried to pull a Cinderella and found a fairy god mother to spruce him up. Cindy wore a pantsuit and honestly she looked  _ incredible.  _ He might have a thing for pantsuits now specifically because of this night. She was beautiful and bubbly and he was so relieved that she seemed happy again. She squeezed his hand as they walked in and it did absolutely nothing to quell the rush of nerves when he saw his idol. Standing there. In the flesh. 

Bruce Banner the vampire. 

If the paleness in his skin didn’t give it away the charcoal color that rimmed his irises would have. When a vampire feeds or is going to feed, that ring expands and swallows the entire eye. It's honestly a terrifying sight. Peter was not really sure how so much vampire porn existed when he, as a vampire, wanted to shit his pants at the sight of it. Anyway, Bruce Banner is  _ the  _ vampire. 

Peter aspired to be just like him. 

He held a martini glass and it looked to be filled with a blood cocktail. Peter swallowed four or five times. He couldn’t believe his eyes. They better not be fucking lying to him. 

"T-thats…" He sounded so weak, like he might faint. Cindy giggled, squeezing his hand again.

"I know. I told my dad to invite him." 

Jesus.

Oh no.

Did he even want to be here? Did he know that he was here as the result of a dumb whim by a kid with an academic crush on his brain? 

"Your dad didn't like...tell him why he was inviting him did he?" He didn't mean to sound so paranoid, but christ it was all he could think about. 

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Oh Peter  _ stop.  _ They're friends. It's not weird for my dad to invite him places." 

Suddenly rendered mute, Peter could only nod in response. She dragged him to meet her father. Doctor Reed Richards. He was polite and friendly and honestly not nearly as scary as Peter imagined he'd be. 

"Good to finally meet the infamous boyfriend." He chuckled. Peter makes some weird noise. Like a hum and a yelp blended together. And there was that word again.

Boyfriend. 

That's what he was. Her boyfriend. He hadn't really thought about it until that day. The day he’d hurt Cindy’s feelings. He pulled at his collar. Did his shirt and his pants match? Shit. He couldn’t remember. He could look like an utter  _ fool.  _

"That's me." Peter said it stupidly, freaking out about whether or not his stupid pants matched his stupid shirt. 

They indulged in small talk. The usual first meeting stuff. It was a bit stiff and eventually, Peter excused himself to get him and Cindy something to drink. He was at the punch bowl table when it happened. 

A scent hit him like a fucking freight train. 

Not just any scent but the best thing he'd ever smelled. Before he could stop himself, his fangs were stabbing right through his bottom lip and he yelped, dropping a cup to slap a hand over his mouth. The cup was made of plastic thankfully so it only bounced off the table and rolled once it was on the ground. With a hand still firmly pressed to his mouth he looked around. 

Where was it coming from?

What was it? No.  _ Who _ was it? He'd been with a vampire so long he'd almost forgotten that things like this could happen. He could feel his eyes shifting around the room frantically. The best thing to compare it too was popping a boner at a dinner where you were meeting your girlfriend’s parent and the boner was not for the aforementioned girlfriend. 

In other words: a big fucking yikes. 

_ Get it under control. Get it together, Peter.  _ He thought to himself bitterly.

"Are you alright?" 

The voice was smooth and calming. Goosebumps pebbled all over Peter's skin. Eyes wide and dark, he looked up from where he'd crouched on the ground to find that stupid fucking cup. His eyes found Bruce Banner looking down at him, amused. 

He didn't have a martini glass anymore, and he'd bent down to help Peter up. "I saw what happened." He murmured, and Peter was utterly mortified. His eyes widened. Bruce chuckled again and helped him to his feet. 

"Let's take a walk. That always helps me."

He tossed Cindy an apologetic look as he was led outside, but she didn’t look up from her conversation with one of the other party guests. Bruce told someone where they were heading and assured Peter that she'd be informed. 

"First time getting a whiff of something ya like?" He guessed and Peter felt so incredibly embarrassed. Someone kill him now. Strike him down. 

He nodded, but now that they're outside he felt less like a sideshow. Less on display. Less judged. He pulled his teeth free of his bottom lip and swiped his tongue across it. He could feel the wound healing immediately. 

"Have you been on blood bags mostly or…?"

Peter swallowed. "Yeah. I don't uh...I tried drinking from the source before. It's really intense. I liked it and everything but like...I'm seeing someone now and she's a vampire so--"

Bruce was already nodding. "I see. Yes, that can be a bit awkward. Especially since bites with humans can get intimate. There's a line there but it's hard not to cross."

Yeah.

God. How was he gonna explain this? It wasn't the worst thing that could have happened but. Still. Guilt formed a heavy ball in his stomach. He’d gotten excited. Beyond excited. For someone else.

"So what do I do?"

A slow inhale. Neither of them  _ needed  _ to breathe technically so Peter could tell he was doing it to gather his thoughts. "Well, for one. There's always exposure therapy. Are you worried you'll give in or are you worried about the reaction in general?"

"Both." He admitted with a heavy layer of shame in his voice. He didn't want to do anything bad. He liked Cindy. She was his girlfriend. He didn't want to betray her or hurt her. 

Another low hum. 

"Well, for one, you should discuss it with your partner. But there are groups for this kind of thing you know. I won't lie it's...it's exceedingly difficult. The tricky thing about our kind is that it's easier for us to date a vampire. Less risk of injury or harm. The tough part is unless you turn them yourself you can't drink from them. Which is just the shittiest rule." A laugh. "Pardon my language. But...it is a curse and I suppose that's one of the downsides."

"Yeah. I uh...tried drinking from Cindy once." His nose wrinkled. "I didn't like it. She didn't either. It just felt--like the action itself wasn't wrong but we didn't taste good to each other."

"And you don't wanna be rude but yeah. It's awkward when that happens." 

They came to a stop in a small garden. There was a fountain in the center of it and each of them took a seat on the rim of it. 

"So...what do I do? I've smelled humans before but that was...something else." He felt like he'd been punched in the gut. 

Bruce nodded. "Yeah. It was like that for my partner too." 

Peter's eyebrows skyrocketed. He swiveled toward Bruce. Eager and curious. "What did you guys do?" 

"Well. He turned me." He laughed. 

Oh.

_ Oh.  _

"Assuming you want to stay with your partner that solution probably isn't going to work for you."

"Probably not." He sulked. 

Look. 

He was still in college. He didn’t know if he wanted to be with Cindy forever. He didn't even know he was her official boyfriend until a week ago! How was he supposed to figure something like  _ this  _ out?

It happened again.

He got a whiff of vanilla and lavender and holy shit he wanted to bury his face in it. 

"Peter." Bruce's voice sounded so far away. "Peter. You're smelling it again, huh?" 

“Mmm?” He's too caught up in trying to pin down which direction the scent is coming from. He hadn't even realized he was standing until he felt a hand settle on his shoulder. Then he was forced to sit. His ass hit the concrete of the fountain and he snapped back to the present. 

"Oof. You got it bad, kid." 

He knew that voice. 

It wasn't Bruce.

"Mr. Stark!" He yelped. "I uh. Didn't see you there."

An easy grin. Tony slipped his sunglasses off--wait why the hell was he wearing sunglasses at night time? "I can tell. Having fun on your secret picnic?" 

"On our?" Oh my god. He leaped to his feet and was sputtering out apologies. "No, no, no, no! I would  _ never,  _ Mr. Stark. Doctor Banner was just--"

"Why can't I be a doctor?" Tony huffed, offended. 

"You don't have a doctorate." Bruce pointed out, leaning back with a big shit eating grin.

"We weren't doing anything!" Peter had been chattering away like an idiot this entire time. Tony hadn’t noticed. He chuckled. Told Peter to relax. (Yeah sure. Easy for  _ him  _ to say.)

"So...what do I even say, Doctor Banner?" He begged. Tony pulled out a carton of cigarettes with a brow arched. Bruce waved Tony off when he leaned too far into his space, an inside joke maybe. It felt like something Peter shouldn't have seen. But Bruce quickly snatched himself a cigarette once the carton was open. 

"Tell her the truth."

She'll dump him for sure. 

But he nodded. 

* * *

Peter decided he needed to clear his head. So he walked further into the garden and he caught that scent again. It's thick. Heavy. Was she hurt? His feet were carrying him forward. He shouldn’t be doing this. He should be moving  _ away  _ not  _ toward.  _ Cindy. He had to talk to Cindy.

Faster, and faster, and faster until he heard it. 

The most obscene and beautiful sound he'd ever heard in his life. He rounded the corner of the building. Passed by a dodgy looking penguin-shaped bush and then he saw her. A young woman. Pressed very firmly against the brick wall separating Doctor Richard's land from his neighbor's. The woman--god she was breathtaking. Her hair--white and pure and it looked so silky it was sinful. 

Her back was against the wall and her neck was one delicious looking stretch of skin. Snow white hair tangled in a messy fray as a result of her head rubbing against brick but she didn't seem to care. There was a man between her legs and for a moment Peter flushed because he thought the guy was eating her out. He was startled by a surge of jealousy.

But no.

She still had her panties on. The guy was biting her thigh. He was  _ feeding. _ And somehow that's  _ worse.  _ Peter crossed the distance in instants, but the other man didn't move away. In fact, Peter swore he heard the guy chuckle. 

Lifting his head he said, "Want some?"

Like a cocky asshole. Like she was nothing more than food.It was the wrong thing to say. Peter gripped the back of the stranger's neck since he wasn't attached to this woman and ripped him away from her. The anger he held for the man didn’t last long--in fact--the man was immediately forgotten because of that  _ scent.  _ Lavender. Vanilla. Spice. God what is that spice? He wanted to--

His nose was wet suddenly and it took him a few moments to realize he was fucking rubbing his face against her thigh and smearing her blood all over his face. 

He tried to push away. Really. He did. But instead of moving  _ away  _ he ended up with his tongue out, and her thighs in the palms of each hand. He lifted her off the ground, She keened, and god it shouldn't make heat shoot down his spine but it did. He dragged the flat side of his tongue over the bite wound because he wanted to erase every inch of the man before him.

Only his marks. He only wanted his marks on her.

He heard the guy growling behind him but from up above, the woman was telling him to get lost. Peter felt her fingers pushing through his hair. "Go ahead," She sighed, breathy and needy.

He was in trouble.

He was in big. Fucking. Trouble.

He knew it was wrong. He knew it and still--he leaned forward to keep licking the blood off her thigh anyway. Greedy for more of it. The only thing that stopped him from sinking his fangs into her was a sharp grip on his shoulder and a voice, low and threatening in his ear. "Kid. Banner caught me up to speed. Trust me when I say I know exactly how you fucking feel right now but you do  _ not  _ want this to be how to start off. By cheating. That's what this is."

It's like ice water. 

He groaned. Pitiful. Sounding wounded. 

Tony sighed behind him. "I know, kid."

The woman whined, and Peter looked up at her helplessly. He wanted to soothe the ache he’d caused. She looked much younger than he’d initially thought. 

"Uh. Sorry." He said stupidly.

She giggled. "Don't be sorry, stud."

Fuck. Yeah he got a hardon almost instantly. He was absolutely the shittiest boyfriend on the planet. Tony had to help him set her down because Peter  _ really  _ didn't want to stop touching her. 

"I uh. I'm Peter. "  _ Yes. Tell her your name after you spent god only knows how long fucking rubbing your face all over her inner thigh and licking it you fucking creep. _ "Sorry. Uh to interrupt you."

Another giggle. God. She has got to stop. Every laugh went straight to his dick. 

"I told you not to be sorry. I liked it." She tucked a stray curl behind her ear and jesus. She was gorgeous. The prettiest girl he'd ever seen. 

No. Shit. Fuck he had got a girlfriend. (Well, god only knew if he’d have one by the end of the night.)

"I'm seeing someone." He blurted like a fucking moron.

She looked disappointed. "That's a shame." 

Fuck.

She breezed past him and Tony cleared his throat. Yep. Awkward.

"Uh I--" Peter turned to face her but she was so far away suddenly. At least that's how it felt. He shouldn't ask for her name. He shouldn't. It was like a movie. He reached out for her, reaching out for a lifeline. But.

He couldn't. 

He was seeing Cindy.

He was supposed to be  _ Cindy's  _ boyfriend. 

So he let his hand drop. His head hung and he glared at the ground. 

"My name," Her voice was like honey. Thick and sweet. "Is Felicia Hardy. Look me up when you're not seeing someone, stud."

Oh. Fuck. He was doomed. Utterly and truly doomed. 

Tony voiced a similar thought, "You are so fucked." 

**Author's Note:**

> While Peter doesn't sexually cheat, I threw the tag in there just to be safe for uh...biting reasons. His heart was really only half into the relationship and I think that's pretty clear (not that that's an excuse--listen don't cheat >.>) but I just wanted to tag it so no one was surprised. Anyway, thanks for reading!


End file.
